A Time Traveler's Theory of Relativity

by Nicole Valentine

Overview

He believes in science, but only magic can help his mom.

Twelve-year-old Finn is used to people in his family disappearing. His twin sister, Faith, drowned when they were three years old. A few months ago, his mom abandoned him and his dad with no explanation. Finn clings to the concrete facts in his physics books—and to his best friend, Gabi—to ward off his sadness. But then his grandmother tells him a secret: the women in their family are Travelers, able to move back and forth in time.

Finn's mom is trapped somewhere in the timeline, and she's left Finn a portal to find her. But to succeed, he'll have to put his trust in something bigger than logic.

"This is an incredible book, no matter which time universe you're in. I couldn't put it down. One of my favorite debut novels of the year."—Erin Entrada Kelly, New York Times bestselling author and 2018 Newbery Medal winner

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541555389
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	484,884
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.60(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	630L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

Nicole Valentine writes books about the crossroads in our world where science and magic meet. She writes for middle grade and young adult readers and reads absolutely everything. You are as likely to find her curled up on the sofa reading a biography about Richard Feynman or Carl Sagan, as reading a book by Alice Hoffman or Kate DiCamillo.

Nicole earned her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. In her prior timeline as a technologist, she managed web development at CNN.com and went on to launch Space.com as well as various other start-ups. She was the Chief Technology Officer of Figment.com, a website for teens interested in reading and writing young adult fiction, which was sold to Random House in 2013. Outside of fictional world-building, you can find her walking around with a hawk on her arm or wrangling two giant dogs named Merlin and Arthur. She resides outside of Philadelphia with her family.

Editorial Reviews

"Finn's life has felt incomplete since the death of his twin sister, Faith, when they were three, and now that his mom has disappeared ten years later, it threatens to fall apart. A trip to Gran's does little to help. She warns him not to trust anyone, and dies in her bed the night he arrives. But most disconcerting is the Gran who arrives from five years ago, telling him that theirs is a family of time travelers, that his mother is one, and that his dead sister (snatched out of time) has become not only the most powerful but the most evil of the Travelers. His mother has moved backward and taken Faith with her to try to keep the little girl from growing into the terror revealed by forward travel through all the time lines—in each one of which, she kills Finn. Since only women in the family have the ability to Travel, there's not much Finn can do—until his mother reveals that there's a time-travel portal made specifically for him, and a task that only he can perform. Time travel tends to be a sci-fi construct, but this is definitely a fantasy story, as there's no real explanation of the time traveling beyond 'magic.' But Finn is an engaging character who has a plucky friend, Gabi, and Faith is a plausible evildoer. Most unusually, the adults believe the kids are capable of saving them all. VERDICT Any young reader who wants to believe that magic can change the harsh realities of life will find much to enjoy here. Recommended for all middle grade fantasy sections."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

10/01/2019

Gr 5–8—Finn's life has felt incomplete since the death of his twin sister, Faith, when they were three, and now that his mom has disappeared ten years later, it threatens to fall apart. A trip to Gran's does little to help. She warns him not to trust anyone, and dies in her bed the night he arrives. But most disconcerting is the Gran who arrives from five years ago, telling him that theirs is a family of time travelers, that his mother is one, and that his dead sister (snatched out of time) has become not only the most powerful but the most evil of the Travelers. His mother has moved backward and taken Faith with her to try to keep the little girl from growing into the terror revealed by forward travel through all the time lines—in each one of which, she kills Finn. Since only women in the family have the ability to Travel, there's not much Finn can do—until his mother reveals that there's a time-travel portal made specifically for him, and a task that only he can perform. Time travel tends to be a sci-fi construct, but this is definitely a fantasy story, as there's no real explanation of the time traveling beyond "magic." But Finn is an engaging character who has a plucky friend, Gabi, and Faith is a plausible evildoer. Most unusually, the adults believe the kids are capable of saving them all. VERDICT Any young reader who wants to believe that magic can change the harsh realities of life will find much to enjoy here. Recommended for all middle grade fantasy sections.—Elizabeth Friend, Wester Middle School, TX

School Library Journal

2019-07-14
Finn discovers his family harbors gifted time travelers whose mission, despite their best efforts, keeps ending in failure.

Finn's birthdays—he's nearly 13—are haunted by the loss of his twin sister, Faith, in the Dorset, Vermont, marble quarry at age 3. Now his mother's disappeared. Finding her possessions intact at Gran's, Finn seeks answers. A quantum physics enthusiast, he's read about time-travel and multiple-universe theories, but what Gran has to tell him is incredible: The women in her family Travel through time, though only she and his mom Travel to the future as well as the past. Fearing his mom's lost in time, Gran says Finn must Travel to find her. Because he's male, he'll need the portal created for him in a tree on Dorset Peak. A dangerous, twisty trek through past, present, and future ensues. As versions of his relatives proliferate, their accounts conflicting, Finn increasingly relies on his stalwart friend Gabi. (Gabi and her mom are of Puerto Rican heritage; other characters are presumed white.) Structured like a series opener, the novel ends abruptly, important questions sketchily answered or left unaddressed. If failure to tackle and resolve time travel's thorny plotting challenges disappoints genre aficionados, the vivid setting and appealing characters—Finn and his quirky relatives especially—offer plenty to satisfy readers less invested in the category.

This soft-science-fiction debut will resonate with Madeleine L'Engle fans. (author's note) (Science fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews